17 August, 2009

One of the things I really like about Wikipedia is that it’s great for finding about popular culture. If you want to know the discography of an obscure grunge band or the backstory of an anime character, Wikipedia probably has it.

But, apparently, there’s a large-scale disagreement among its editors about how much to include—see “Wikipedia approaches its limits.” The original aim was to include articles about significant topics. But, each trade or hobby has its own significant topics—its own history, jargon, prizes, heroes, and villains.

I tend to side with the inclusionists because I can ignore what I don’t want; in fact, it won’t even come up in my searches. How much would you include?